By The ACS team · Published
If your internet slows to a crawl every afternoon, calls break up, or uploading a file to a customer takes ages, you've probably wondered whether you need "a proper line". Here's what actually separates a leased line from business broadband, in plain English.
The short answer
Business broadband is a fast, good-value connection shared with other users on the network. For most small offices it's plenty.
A leased line is a private fibre connection that's yours alone. You get the same speed up as down, the same speed at 3pm as at 3am, and a guaranteed fix time if something goes wrong. It costs more and takes longer to install.
If your team is small, mostly uses email and the web, and can live with the odd slow patch, broadband is usually the right call. If the internet going slow or down costs you money, a leased line is worth pricing up.
Leased line vs broadband: what's different
| Business broadband | Leased line | |
|---|---|---|
| Connection | Shared with other users | Dedicated to you |
| Upload speed | Usually much lower than download | The same as download |
| Busy times | Can slow down | Doesn't change |
| Fault fix time | Best effort, or a basic business promise | A guaranteed fix time in the contract |
| Install | Days to weeks | Usually a few months |
| Price | Lower | From £325 +VAT a month with us |
Shared versus dedicated
Broadband is "contended": the capacity from the cabinet or exchange back to the network is shared, so when everyone in the area is online, speeds can drop. A leased line isn't shared with anyone, so the speed you pay for is the speed you get, all day.
Upload matters more than it used to
Most broadband is built for downloading. That made sense when the internet was mainly for reading web pages, but now your phones, Teams calls, cloud backups and file sharing all send data out as well. A leased line is symmetrical: a 100 Mbps line uploads at 100 Mbps too. With the old phone lines ending in January 2027 (see our switch-off guide), more businesses are moving calls onto their internet. If you've moved to hosted VoIP or back up to the cloud, upload speed is often the thing that's really holding you back.
When it goes wrong
Leased lines come with a service level agreement: a contracted fix time, and compensation if it's missed. Broadband faults are fixed as soon as possible, which is fine for many firms but not for one that can't take orders, payments or calls without the internet.
Signs you've outgrown broadband
- Calls drop or sound robotic, especially when someone's uploading a file.
- Things slow down at the same times every day.
- You've got more than about 15 to 20 people sharing one connection.
- You're moving servers or files to the cloud, or you rely on remote desktops.
- An hour offline would mean lost sales, missed calls or staff sitting idle.
If two or three of those sound familiar, it's worth getting a leased line priced for your address.
Why the price depends on where you are
Leased line prices aren't one size fits all. If fibre already runs past your building, installation is quicker and cheaper. If a new route has to be dug, the network operator may add excess construction charges, which is why we always check availability and survey the site before giving you a firm quote. Across rural Norfolk the difference between two addresses a mile apart can be large, so it's always worth asking rather than guessing.
Don't forget a backup line
Whatever you choose, a second connection from a different route stops one fault from taking the whole business offline. That can be ordinary broadband, a 4G or 5G router, or Starlink, which works almost anywhere with a view of the sky and is a good fit for rural sites. A router that switches over automatically means most people never notice.
Getting it right first time
Before you sign anything, check three things: what's actually available at your address, how much upload speed your phones and cloud services need, and what an hour offline would really cost you. We do that check for free, and we'll tell you honestly if broadband will do the job. See our connectivity and WiFi page for prices, or get in touch and we'll look up your address.